Category: Music Notes

Singing in Church is Huge Part of Russian Christianity, Profile of one of Russia’s Greatest Choirs (VIDEO)

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The Moscow Synodal Choir was founded in 1721 and is now the oldest professional choir in Russia. In fact, its origins can be traced further back to 1589, when the first professional church choir was formed, then known as the Patriarchal for it was the choir, which used to sing at the church services officiated by the Patriarch. Patriarch was the top position in the Church hierarchy in Russia well up to 1700, when the Russian reformist Tzar Peter the Great reformed the church administrative system.

So, you thought classical musicians were pussies

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How often we relax to the quintessential melodies of Spain’s Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909). His Rapsodia Espanola, Sevilla and Granada, based on Catalan folk songs, are perhaps the better-known of his compositions. These exquisite heartrending melodies evoke the Spanish dream more than could any Goya painting but what of the man behind the music?

FOR THE LOVE OF CARMEN

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In a letter dated October 1866, French composer Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875) went straight to the point of opera: ‘As a musician, I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.’

Whispering Hope

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Whispering Hope is one of Western civilisation’s most engaging and enduring ballads. I was told by my Liverpool-Irish mother that at the onset of World War II, the suicide rate went through the roof, such was the anti-war sentiment.

For the Love of a Wanton Woman

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In a letter dated October 1866, French composer Georges Bizet (1838 – 1875) went straight to the point of opera: ‘As a musician, I tell you that if you were to suppress adultery, fanaticism, crime, evil, the supernatural, there would no longer be the means for writing one note.’

Birth Anniversary of Herbert von Karajan

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Herbert von Karajan (5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the German renaissance, the National Socialist era (1933-1945), he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

So, you thought classical musicians were pussies

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How often do we relax to the quintessential melodies of Spain’s Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909). His Rapsodia Espanola, Sevilla and Granada, based on Catalan folk songs, are perhaps the better known of his compositions. These exquisite mind-bending melodies evoke the Spanish dream more than could any Goya painting; but what of the man behind the music?

MUSICAL NOTES: FRANZ LEHAR (1870 – 1948)

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One of the most surprising discoveries for me was to learn that Franz Lehár, whose operas and waltzes match those of the Strauss family, lived in my own lifetime. Much as I love the melodies and waltzes from The Merry Widow and Wiener Frauen (Viennese Women) I was ignorant of the fact that he was a contemporary of The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

If X-rated Entertainment is Music to your Ears

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If X-rated entertainment is music to your ears, then orchestral music may be just what you are looking for. Enthusiasts of television soaps would eat their hearts out if they knew what we classical fans have been enjoying for the last few hundred years. If I hint at the plot, you will understand why we’re still glued to our sets; the theatrical ones that are.